First Vet Visit

Marli’s puppies had their vet exams today and all got and A+!

All of them are very close in size with Delilah weighing 2.4 pounds and both Daffy and Dillon weighing 2.2 pounds. Since they are almost 8 weeks old we can kind of predict their adult weights to within about a 15% degree of accuracy. The norm is to double and then double again their 8 week old weights. So that would make Delilah about 9-10 pounds; and, Daffy and Dillon about 8-9 pounds as adults. I will be curious to know how this pans out. Marli weighs 8 pounds and Ruger (the sire) weighs about 10 pounds. Most males are larger than the females. Basically, no real

surprises here.

I am posting photos of the puppies as of today. They are turning out to be a very handsome group. Because there is a slight chance Dillon is a satin-coated Havanese, I have sent blood work into a DNA lab verify whether she is or whether she just has a very flat, silky coat that is slow to develop.

Potter, our 4 month old, with Dillon

Daffy, short for Daffodil, has a sweet smile.

Dillon, with Potter, searching the bushes for lizards.
Delilah on a mission
Here’s Dillon again

Little Dillon has wonderful coloring.

Mother Marli on the hunt for the wild and mysterious anoles (lizards)

Potter, Zola (now Oreo), and Daffy not quite ready to share the toy!

This is Zola (now Oreo) who is going to her forever hom

Delilay (left), Dillon (middle) and Oreo

The Results Are In!

My friend Linda assisted me in assessing the temperaments/ personalities of Marli’s puppies and they are closer in most respects than I thought. All three have socialized nicely. It helps to have them exposed to lots of dogs at various ages as well as lots of different people and children.

Dillon went first. Over the past several weeks she has gone from being the “leader of the pack” to one that kind of held back and now to a wonderfully adjusted, yet lower keyed, than the other two.

She scored three 2’s, three 3’s and a 4 on the sound sensitivity. In other words, she is a confident and outgoing puppy that will respond well to human companionship but might require a more consistent hand in training.

Delilah was next. She scored four 3’s and three 4’s, making her slightly more social but not enough to make much of a difference. She also has displayed a more outgoing character than Dillon, but again, not anything close to what I would call wild.

Daffodil was kind of all over the map, scoring two 3’s, two 4’s, a 2 for Following, a 6 for Dominance, and a 1 for Sight Sensitivity. Of the three she is definitely the most energetic and outgoing. So, while she will make a fine pet she might not be the snuggle bug some are looking for.

So, none of the pups display overly excited behaviors. They play well and seem to take turns being “boss.”

If you’d like to read more about the Volhard Test, go to the February 19, 2014 posts.

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Havanese Puppies Eyes are Opening!

One of Marli’s puppies has her eyes open now and a second is almost there. Here are three photos I took this morning.

Girl #1 has her eyes open! She, like her siblings, is moving around quite well in the whelping box. She is black and tan with white markings on her paws, her chin and her chest. The tan is showing up on her rump and her legs. She also appears to have some lightening on her eyebrows. At 13 days old she weighs 13.4 ounces. This puts her right on a par with Maxi’s pups at the same age.

Girl #2 still has her eyes completely closed. But she is a bit smaller than her sisters so this is no surprise. She, too, is moving around nicely. She is black with white markings…no tan in her coloring at this point. She weighs 11.4 ounces.

And, you can’t see it from this photo but girl #3 has slight openings in her eyes. She weighs 12.5 ounces, is moving around well and is black and tan with white markings.

Havanese Puppies One Week Old

Marli’s three little girls are one week old today. She has been a great mom. Very relaxed and attentive. She has no issues with the other dogs being in the bedroom where she and the puppies are. Maxi and Phoebe had fits when the other dogs came around! Hard to get good photos of these little guys because they are so dark. But I do see some tan coming through on their feet, chests and cheeks. They are going to be gorgeous!

Marli’s Puppies Have Arrived

Our little Marli whelped three girls on Thursday afternoon. They are all black and tan with white on their paws and chests. Very sweet coloring. They will likely begin to show some tan markings in a week or so. All are a good size (5-6 ounces) and are nursing well. This is Marli’s first litter and she is acting like she’s done this a dozen times! Very attentive.

Here are a few photos. I’ll have some better ones up when they are a little older. Black is a little tricky to photograph!

Yes, she’s exhausted. But look at that happy smile!

Such a good Mama